A post for 'low earners'

[Maybeimweird]

Right so I've just seen the thread asking what people earn and these threads always surprise me at how rich people are and I suppose I do feel abit meh afterwards, I cannot believe how low my household income is comparing to others, feel like I've been living blindly as I thought dh wage was ok. I also read on a thread that the average salary was 35k! Me and dh bring in around 2k a month if that, we were also paying £665 in rent a month. I earn £700 a month it doesn't actually pay me to work, if I stopped working then I could stop having to out my children in a childminders and I would get higher universal credits, doesn't sound great but that's the truth!

So my question is are there any families living on a similar wage and still happy and coping and going on some holidays or should I be feeling deflated? Am I the normal average and sniliar to others? I want to hear positive stories

Don't forget it's all relative to where to live too. Someone might sound like they're on a good salary but if they live in London or the South East their living/commuting/child care expenses will be through the roof. If you're happy, that's all that matters. Don't let other people make you think you need to to do or have more.

Hi OP. We have a similar house hold income, but I'm on maternity at the moment (don't have a job to go back to mind so will be getting even less when I stop getting SMP). We do fine, don't have loads of disposable income but we don't go without anything.

Always have a holiday too. We are happy and content, spending time together is more important to us than money, without sounding too cheesy!

Wouldn't mind winning the lottery though

Cam2020 yes thankyou.

I agree London is a lot higher and it depends on outgoings

Do some research into being a self employed cleaner. Is there enough of a demand? What is the typical cost? Would you be able to provide references?

What would you do in the school holidays to keep your clients happy? How much childcare would you need to use to do.

Is there a market for one of cleans such as student houses etc?

Im on 19k and comfortable enough, just cant save up a deposit for a house.

Also someone explained the mode down below but they meant the median. Mode is the number which appears most often in a series of numbers.

We earn around 12K ... thats the two of us, he doesn't work, he is my full time carer, I work from home self employed.

Ok so, its not a typical set up and yes, I own the house outright, no mortgage which is entirely down to luck (inheritance) and not something I'd have achieved otherwise.

Yeah i get a bit bummed when I hear what other people earn and yes sometimes we struggle.. but actually, I have security, and I have all I need and a bit extra, this is the best off I have EVER been in my entire adult life.

Try not to compare with what others have, strive to achieve what YOU want, for your benefit, security and happiness. Bugger other people!

Chickenwing

Thanks that was me... It's been a long day, I'm a bit sleep deprived due to DD!

I did indeed mean the median (no pun intended...)

I’ve lived my life both as low earning partnership and as a middle earning partnership.

We got tax credits to make up my ex partners wage before I went back to work. We rented and although I always wanted to own a house it was also good knowing if something went wrong, we didn’t have to foot the bill.

My situation has improved now and whilst I don’t have the same worries financially, I wouldn’t say I was any happier in general.

You do what you can to survive. Some people are lucky in life others not so. Certainly nothing to be ashamed about.

We are on a combined salary of £1700 a month. We never buy clothes or things, we always get second hand from Freecycle and other groups. We are vegetarian and meal prep. Holidays are camping, we acquired camping equipment.

My income including any tax credits is 1350 a month dh cant work our rent is 430 council tax we pay 65 a month then all other bill and cost we have about 100 a month for treats school trips ect

I run my own business and take home around £700 a month.

Luckily DH earns better than I do and we live in a cheap area

Single parent £23000, small amount of CTC, + £150 maintenance but minimal housing costs as parents used inheritance from GP to buy my flat and I pay back a small amount each week.
No childcare as parents pick Dd up from school and I work TTonly.
I live in a town where cost of living is fairly low. We aren't rolling in it but have enough to go abroad for a fortnight in the summer, run a car etc. Wealth is relative though, I'm happy to drive a 2nd hand car and buy clothes in the sale whereas others want big house, brand new cars, designer clothes. I prefer working TTonly and having the time with Dd.
My circumstances are incredibly fortunate and I realise that and extremely thankful to my parents.

Remember.. comparison is the thief of all joy! If you were happy before reading what anyone else was earning (and they might not be telling the truth!) then don’t let it get you down. Also those on the higher salaries? They could be jealous of the time you have with your dc, or of your happy marriage.

Your wage is fine OP.

The threads are always filled by fantasists and show offs looking to make people feel bad. FWIW my household income isn't bad and isn't amazing.

As long as you are happy and live comfortably I think that is all that matters.

Im a low earner but I love my job! I could earn more somewhere else but my work life balance is brilliant and I wouldn't give it up easily.

Very low earner lmao - 17,300 a year / 35 hours a week (lunch is unpaid)

I've read all your messages! Good to know and God no way am I feeling sorry for myself etc noone has stated I am, I am lucky and like I said I'd rather work less and be with the children but if I wanted a high salary I would have to work for it so I don't expect that. Good to know though, I didn't know if I should be feeling concerned but we have good Xmas's and birthdays etc, we do ok (we've had some bad poor times, as many people have I'm sure) I just didn't know if I was being abit of an idiot and we should be on better wages but yes I should not compare and focus on if we are happy etc thanks everyone for not actually having a go. Nice to know there's a few of us all the same

I said on here once that I work a part time job and don’t earn much. You should see what some people said about me. It was horrible.
We used to have that income about 15 years ago. Having small children makes it hard to take on jobs.
My son is now 16. I work full time now and we bring home about £3300 a month. I also think sometimes money is better the older you are. Getting higher up the chain etc.
Even with that increase other things come into play. My son has medical bills to be paid every month. And we have to pay for David Lloyd every month as well as they were the only ones willing to work with my sons physio. So even though we earn more it goes out the other end just as quick.

We are on a similar wage and I do feel depressed reading about people who have much more. We don't live in a particularly cheap area which makes it worse. I can't go full time as where I work only give part time contracts. My plan was to look for a new job while on maternity leave but I can't see that happening now.
I'm just trying to find positive things to focus on and think money isn't the most important thing, although I think that's only the case when you have a lot.

Me too, OP! £17,000 per annum. Wages bringing in roughly £1200 a month after tax. No other adult in the household so it's just me holding down the fort.

We manage to scrape by

I started earning 30k at the age of 19. I mentioned this on MN before and people were falling over themselves to tell me it 'really wasn't a great salary'

Yeah pepsi in MN world it seems like anything below 50k isn't a great salary. Which is madness. Sure I read somewhere that the average salary is 26k.

Myownwendyhouse yes I agree and also it's all fine having a lot coming in but it's about what you have going out, one family could have 2 grand coming in and their outgoings are £700 a month, whereas another family could have 4 grand coming in but have outgoings of £3500 with high mortgage or debt etc so every household is different.

Rosebel I know it does make you feel rubbish when you see higher earnings, that's one thing I hate about myself im always so curious about people's lives, why do I even care what other people are getting when I have 2 children who are the best etc I definitely think aswel that everyone always has what someone else has got, I've got 2 children whereas another rich couple with a huge house and loads of money may not even be able to have children, some people may have a lavish life but struggle with their weight and envy thinner people, so easy to say all of this but hard to put into practise and yes I agree money doesn't make you happy etc and can't really change health but being crippled by bills and struggling doesn't make you happy either! So yes money does help to an extent, although coronavirus has definitely made me see that it doesn't matter how rich you are etc it won't keep you healthy if you catch it, although les smoney worries if you have to take time off to self isolate etc but God that's a whole other thread😅

*sorry wants what someone else has got